Tulsa Police chief addresses officer shortage

Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TULSA -

"We're authorized right now 780 and we're not even close to that," said Jordan.

Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan has an officer shortage on his hands.

Every year he said his department loses about 40 officers due to retirement and others going on to federal law enforcement jobs.

Chief Jordan said it's going to take three to four years to get the department up to staff.

The department’s goal is to have roughly 930 on the force.

“I hope the public sees that we are concerned about having enough people out to protect people and all of us want to do the job and pitch in and get it done," said Jordan.

Vision Tax funding is now rolling to keep police academies full, that means about 90 new officers a year.

Back in August, 2 Works For You was the first to tell you about a plan to put detectives and administrative workers back on the streets to help the patrol division.

“But I think it's important that they see that everybody's going to pitch in," said Jordan.

These extra officers are being used to help back the ones already out in the field.

“It's certainly given us a little bit of a breather. It's helped. You know we're still short with those people. We're still shorthanded in the field it has helped a lot. We're glad the fop was agreeable to it," said Jordan.

That means the chief is out helping too.

“I think it's important for the officers to see their chief out here. I think it's good for them to see he's willing to and wants to go out and hit the streets a little bit," said Jordan.

More officers in uniform back on the streets means shorter response times and more visibility for the department.

“I hope it says this is a team effort to protect our community to serve our community. I don't think any of us can divorce ourselves from our core functions," said Jordan.